Warmth
by TeamUnitedNerds
Summary: A crossover, in which Flame Princess meets Mr. Freeze


Flame Princess did not like to reflect upon her past. Reminiscing would always drag something miserable to the surface of her mind. It had gotten to the point where Flame Princess could not think of playing with her mother, or spending time with Finn without going back to when she was trapped in that lantern, with nothing but the sad echo of her thoughts. She needed to face something worse. She needed to plunge boldly into darkness headfirst, to prove to herself that she was strong enough to remember. She decided to go the the ice kingdom. Ice was her natural enemy, and would provide the greatest challenge, and the greatest fear.

She gulped as she came upon a large, icy cave. From deep within the cavern came a thick, icy mist, which caused a bit of steam to bubble up as it made contact with the fiery surface of the Princess's skin. It stung lightly, but she chose to tolerate it. Finn would, and so could she. She took one step into the cavern, placing her first foot upon the powdery snow that laid upon the floor. It melted into water, causing a sharp pain to rise through her leg. Angrily, she placed one hand out, and blasted a stream of fire from it. The flames shot throughout the cave, melting the ice along the walls and the snow upon the floor. Where ice once was in the cave was now bare stone. The remaining water from the ice continued to be heating by the jet of flames, and soon turned into steam. Flame Princess stepped out of the cave, and allowed the steam to rush out, before running into the cave once again, without anything to bother her.

She stepped inside silently, with no sound filling the cave besides a brief drip and a haunting rush of air. Flame Princess felt cold. She was not used to being cold, for coldness was usually associated with solid ice with her, and in her presence, ice would melt instantly. But this was a dry, cold wind that blew throughout the entire cave, making her feel empty of any emotion. Even her once flaming desire to prove herself seemed to dim as she walked in further. The cave suddenly reached a massive open area. She could see nothing. Even when she burned her flame the brightest, most of the area seemed not to be visible. Most of what she was bizarre machinery, which deeply terrified her. Suddenly, from across the room, she spotted two, glowing red orbs that appeared to be eyes. From that direction came a voice unlike anything that Flame Princess had heard before.

It was a chilling sound, cold and mechanical, but something about it seemed deeply pained, almost remorseful. It had the low, depressing tone of someone who had lived life long enough to realize how cruel it could be. It said "What are you doing here?" Flame Princess's brave hero mentality quickly died as she sprinted out of the cave, panting and screaming wildly. When she reached the end of the cave, she did not bother to look back.

She was back in the cave. She didn't even really know why. The voice had left a chill down her spine when chills weren't to be found. She was made of fire; she wasn't used to cold. Cold meant being put out, and that meant a pain she couldn't exactly handle. She wasn't used to the kind of cold that came from within. Anger, she was used to. Anger brought warmth and she could handle that.

The voice had scared her. Scared her to the point that it left a chill down her spine for days to come. Scared her enough that she _needed_ to face it, to prove to herself that she could.

The crunch of her fiery foot on the melted snow almost made her jump. Her face hardened as she shook her head at herself. She couldn't be so jumpy. She was trying to adventure. She needed to be brave. "H-hello?" she called out, steeling herself against the shiver that rolled down her flaming spine. She bit into her bottom lip, trying to contain her jumpiness.

Something vibrated throughout the cave. It wasn't exactly a voice, more like an empty sound that shook her to the very core.

Flame's first instinct was to run away from the cave, leaving a trail of melted snow in her wake. She resisted it, pressing her hand to the cave wall, watching as the ice melted away, leaving behind hard rock. She swallowed thickly, putting a foot in front of the other, walking deeper into the cave. She could melt anything that was dangerous, she reminded herself, trying to keep calm. She could melt any ice creature that came at her.

The deeper she went into the cave, the darker it grew. Flame tried to keep her shivers away from herself, but she hated cold. She _really_ hated cold. Any light in the cave seemed to radiate from her, flames from her body leaving a rather frozen glow in the air, racing away the darkness for barely two feet. The cold was biting inside the cave, with no sun to chase it away, and Flame clenched her teeth to keep in a shiver.

"Hello!" she shouted again, trying to keep a tremble out of her voice. She was only met with more eerie silence. Every rational part of her brain was screaming for her to turn back, but her burning desire to prove herself kept her feet planted firmly where they were. But still, fear bubbled up deep within her. Nervously, she flung a single ball of fire down the cave, illuminating the walls as it soared through the air, leaving a faint trail of sparks. Flame Princess prayed that it would either attract or scare off whatever resided in the cave, depending on how threatening it was.

Suddenly, a loud, furious roar pierced through the cave, with such force that the ground shook. Either fear or courage drove her to stay where she was, without a single movement. She kept her eyes aimed at the end of the cave, waiting for whatever would emerge from the darkness. The ground now shook with more intensity, but Flame Princess held her ground with nothing more than sheer willpower.

From the darkness appeared a blob of something blue, viscous, and disgusting that dripped along the ground, making repulsive, wet smacking noises. It had a large, gaping mouth, which drooled out more blue ooze onto the floor of the cave. Flame Princess instinctively hurled a barrage of fireballs at the slimy monstrosity. They struck against its surface, but quickly turned into clouds of smoke, and caused no harm to the blob.

Flame Princess put her arms in front of her, and pressed her palms together. A massive stream of chaotic flames burst from her hands, its heated mass engulfing the blob. Once again, it only resulted in smoke. Flame Princess began to panic as the blob inched forwards, seeming to be picking up speed as it moved. She continued to hurl more flaming orbs desperately, and yet still they had no effect.

A throaty, repulsive sound rang out from the throat of the blob, as it spit a slimy clump of bubbly, light-blue ooze from its mouth, which hurled through the air, towards Flame Princess, who was currently running away. The spitwad landed directly on Flame Princess, covering her entire body in a blue slime that stuck her to the ground. It smelled wet and disgusting like a stagnant swamp, and its drippy feeling made Flame Princess want to vomit a puddle of lava.

She could feel the creature behind her, as she could also feel its slimy body pressing against her, sucking her into the creature. With her powers being useless, she flailed wildly, trying to grip onto the icy surface of the floor to pull herself out of the blob. Her legs were now engulfed by the repulsive substance, and she was still being drawn in, slowly.

Flame Princess closed her eyes. Suddenly, she heard a sharp sound, like that of glass breaking around her. She felt a chill run through her, and the blob suddenly stopped sucking her in. She was freed from the slimy bonds pinning her to the ground, as well. She opened her eyes, and saw that the blob had been reduced to several fragments of ice on the ground. Her head darted around, before her eyes caught sight of who was certainly the one who saved her.

He appeared more machine than man, his body encased in a robotic suit. His head was covered by a glass dome. The face behind the dome was cold and apathetic, his mouth drawn into a bitter frown. Over his eyes were a pair of round, red goggles, which cast a faint glow on the reflective ice around him. He spoke, and his voice was instantly recognized as the cold, unfeeling tone from before.

"Who are you?" he asked, his voice cutting through the cold air like an icicle. "Flame Princess" she said. "Thanks for saving me"

"I had no intent to save you. I merely didn't want that monstrosity interfering with my work"

"What work?" Flame Princess asked as the man turned around, walked away from her. Each of his steps sounded like an army marching.

"Begone" he said, pointing a large gun at her. Icy vapor rose from its barrel. Flame Princess wanted to know more about this man, but not now. She walked away casually, her mind barraging itself with an infinite number of questions. She felt herself haunted by the man's gaze. Something about it was hateful beyond anything she had seen. Her father had an evil, fiery quality to his stare, but it was also hedonistic. He was a man who enjoyed life, despite his own cruelty. This man was something different, however. It was hateful, and chilling. It not only showed his own coldness, but caused it to rub off on others, for Flame Princess felt all of her emotions dull, her passions wither, her will degrade.

She wanted to know more, but she was afraid of what her knowledge would bring her. The worst part about the man was, she was more like him than she wanted to admit. She herself was once a creature of hate. Whereas the man's hatred was icy, hers was fiery, and full of rage and vengeance. It was a side of herself that she hoped was buried, but she always felt bubble up beneath her.

It wasn't until after she left the cave that she realized that she was shaking.


End file.
